The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) is dedicated to protecting the Constitution by restoring the civil rights of registrants and their families. In order to achieve that objective, ACSOL will educate and litigate as well as support or oppose legislation. The ACSOL website and recordings are provided as a service to registrants, registrants’ families, and others for general information only. The information on the website and in the recordings are not designed to provide legal or other advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. You should not take, or refrain from taking, action based on their content. Prior results and case studies do not guarantee a similar outcome in future representations. ACSOL accepts no responsibility for any loss or damages that may result from accessing or reliance on content on the ACSOL website and recordings and disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all liability with respect to acts or omissions made by registrants, registrants’ families and others on the basis of content on the ACSOL website.
Important News / Announcements
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
Time for a Police Offenders Registry
This week, the Department of Justice announced new guidelines against racial profiling. The changes don't actually change all that much. As regular incidents of police brutality get more and more mainstream media attention, it's time for a bold move from the White House. Full Op-Ed Piece
FL: SEX OFFENDERS should not be allowed to purchase lottery tickets; they just might win
If proof were ever needed that an individual, once listed on a sex offender registry, no matter for what offense nor how long ago, is forever more thereafter considered unworthy of anything good ever happening in his life, this is it. A registrant in Florida won a three million dollar scratch-off lottery, and the wrath of every hater in the United States and then...
H.R.4573 – International Megan’s Law Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar (Updated – reintroduced as HB515)
UPDATED WITH VOTE: WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation to extend Megan's Law beyond American borders. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), would require the U.S. to tell other countries when convicted sex offenders are traveling there. It would also try to set up reciprocal notification systems so the U.S. is told when convicted sex offenders...
IN: Unregistered sex offenders featured on local billboards
NDIANAPOLIS -Marion County is launching a new effort to go after sex offenders who have not registered by putting them out there for the world to see. It is required by law for sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement so police - and citizens - know where they live. Those who have not registered in Marion County now risk being featured...
MA: Sex-offender restrictions back on burner in Worcester
There has been an ongoing debate in Worcester over the past several years about whether the city should restrict where Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders can live. City councilors have talked about the need for an ordinance that would restrict those sex offenders from living within certain distances of public parks, schools, day care centers and other areas where young children may congregate....
Studies, Experts Question Effect of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries
We all think we know what a sex offender looks like: a serial pedophile, likely male and middle-aged, who lurks in Internet chat rooms or hides behind church authority or children’s programs to prey on little kids. But an estimated 200,000 registered sex offenders in the United States are children, many as young as eight years old. Most never come off the registry and...
This woman is trying to stop juvenile sex offenders — by helping them
Elizabeth Letourneau is one of the country's leading experts on sex crime — why it happens and whether there are better ways to stop it. She focuses in particular on juvenile sex offenders: people who commit a sex crime before they turn 18. This is an important group to understand in the fight against child sex abuse. Juvenile sex offenders perpetrate approximately one-third of...
UT: In our opinion – Policy dilemma – how to handle prison issues with large number of sex offenders
The numbers are often repeated in discussions about sexual assault, but they never become less shocking. One out of three women in Utah will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime; one out of eight will be raped. But while there is evidence that a large percentage of sex crimes go uninvestigated and unprosecuted, there are still more people in prison in Utah for sexual...
VA: Sexting policy change debated
The Virginia State Crime Commission met Tuesday in Richmond to discuss an issue they have been tracking for some time — sexting by teenagers and the state’s child pornography laws. Last October, the Crime Commission heard that during the last five to 10 years, “sexting has attracted increased attention nationwide” and many of those participating are minors. Full Article
Convicted sex offenders, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the First Amendment
Beginning in the 1930s, shortly after the Supreme Court had “incorporated” the First Amendment into the due process clause (thereby making it an enforceable constraint not only on the federal government ["Congress shall make no law . . ."] but on State and municipal governments as well) the Jehovah’s Witnesses went on a campaign to attack, in court, restrictions on their ability to proselytize...
Longtime Carson City Attorney Bill Wynder leaves post to do missionary work
Carson >> To say it’s not easy serving as Carson’s city attorney is an understatement. But the position’s importance, though largely behind the scenes, can’t be overstated — particularly because political dramas, lawsuits and ethics investigations are common in this town. ... Earlier this year, all five council members ordered him to take on the California Supreme Court when that body ruled that local...
General Comments December 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
TN: Pedophile Panic at the Salvation Army – No Teen Boys Allowed, Too Dangerous
When it comes to helping families in need, the Salvation Army turns a cold shoulder to one class of people: Teenage boys. A family in Johnson City, TN, found this out recently when, on a freezing cold night, they asked the organization for shelter. But because their family of five contained a 15-year-old boy, they were turned down. As the dad, Tim Lejeune, explained...
TN: Kingsport police gets OK to set up sex offender community alert system
A new Tennessee law has paved the way for municipalities to establish their own sexual offender notification system. And the Kingsport Police Department wasted no time getting to work. ... The state legislature passed the bill in April that allows local municipalities to create a sex offender notification system - and charge sex offenders a $50 fee to fund that system. This, on top...
SUPREME COURT DECISION COULD DECREASE PUBLIC SAFETY, INCREASE HOMELESSNESS FOR REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
The California Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in two cases, People v. Mosley and In re Taylor, which focus upon residence restrictions adopted in Jessica’s Law which restrict where registered sex offenders (“registered citizens”) may live. The issues argued before the Court are (1) whether residence restrictions are constitutional, (2) whether residence restrictions apply one to registered citizens while on parole and (3)...
Why are the Reconviction Rates So Important?
Why the actual re-offense rates are important pertaining to the total number of people who are already on the registry compared with the percentage of those who are then later reconvicted of a new sexually related crime. This is a simple one, the fact is that the registry and community notification laws are based on the premise that people who have been convicted of...
IA: Expanding sex offender registry is unworkable (Editorial)
____ ____'s anger is understandable. In 1983, she was raped in Des Moines by ____ ____, who served less than five years in prison for the offense. In 1997, ____ was convicted of robbery and served an additional 17 years behind bars before being sent to the Fort Des Moines Community Corrections Center last month. ____ 's conviction on the rape charge predates Iowa's...
OP-ED: For a Child Sex Offender, Once Online, Always Online
The first time I was called a sex offender, I was 13. These words meant nothing to me. The only context I had for them was the old man down the street who parents whispered about, saying he was a sex offender. In fact thinking back, the term had always been applied to old men. So the words hit me with very little meaning....
Growing awareness of the limited efficacy of local sex offender residency restrictions
This new Wall Street Journal article highlights the new awareness of enduring problems with sex offender residency restrictions. The lengthy piece is headlined "Cities and Towns Scaling Back Limits on Sex Offenders: Officials Say Buffer Zones Don’t Prevent Repeat Offenses and Make Predators Harder to Track," and here are excerpts: When Palm Beach County, Fla., was sued earlier this year over its housing restrictions...
Prop. 35 belongs in scrap heap of flawed initiatives (Editorial)
California voters could not resist the chance to condemn human trafficking and sex offenders who prowl the Internet. In 2012, they approved Proposition 35, the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, with 81.3 percent of ballots cast. The vote was as predictable as it was unfortunate. Powerful though it was politically, the initiative is a prime example of why, with rare exceptions, criminal law should...